Manchester United's captain, Gary Neville, has hit out at modern footballers who have everything done for them and are "mollycoddled" by their agents.

The former England defender believes young players should be learning through their own experiences and not allow others to make professional and personal decisions for them.

"It is one of my pet hates when I see players who have agents who do everything for them," Neville said in a column in the Times of Malta. "They don't know how to set up their own bank accounts, they don't know what they are spending their money on and they can't make their own decisions.

"Not every player is like that but some are now totally dependent on agents and advisers. There are some agents who do a good job looking after players but there are others who stifle and mollycoddle them."